SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY NOTE from the LairMistress: This IJ is yet another transplant/expat/refugee from the pretty-much-moribund GreatestJournal. We hung on there as long as we possibly could, until it got to be impossible to update our original version of The Confundus Conspiracy. Hence, all entries from there--or as many as we can manage--will be transferred over here shortly. We want to continue the story of Youngblood Circle (essentially the American version of Diagon Alley); and transferring to another journal server is, apparently, the only way to accomplish this. THE NIGHT SHIP WEIGHS ANCHOR AGAIN!!

Okay, to be aboveboard about the Confundus Conspiracy...

We are one Muggle writer and two Harry Potter Character Muses, formerly of the AU Harry Potter RPG, Dark Hope Rising, now known as new_hope. All canon characters of the Harry Potter novel/film series are the exclusive property of author J.K. Rowling; we are just borrowing some of them for fun, not profit. Seriously. We're not making one thin sickle off of the contents of this Journal. However, during the aforementioned writer/roleplayer's tenure with the abovementioned RPG, she did come up with a small menagerie of original characters to add to the fun; those are her exclusive property.

The primary character muses featured in fanfics here are: Tonks, also known as She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Called-Nymphadora. Her RPG exploits are found at tonks_dhr. She is my primary Character Muse. Also featured here is Hermione Granger, now known in the abovementioned RPG as Hermione Granger-Weasley, Deputy Minister for Magic of Wizarding Britain. Her GJ is at hermionedhr; shortly before we became Free Agents, she married Ron Weasley on the grounds of Hogwarts Castle (the RPG, incidentally, is post-Hogwarts, post-Second War and AU--pre-HBP/DH; most characters killed off in Books 6 and 7 are still alive here--occurring around 2003-2004, when Harry Potter and his cronies are all graduated, adults, and highly amorous; it's Snarry slash-centric, after all...). Ron's GJ, which may or may not be still in use, is at weasley6dhr.

Other Canon characters who may appear in stories here include: Minerva McGonagall (Minister for Magic at the RPG, now perhaps returning to teaching duties), Fred and George Weasley, Rubeus Hagrid, Colin Creevey, Severus Snape (my Winter Vow-partner, believe it or not; more on that later), and Aurors (besides Tonks) Hestia Jones, Alastor Moody and Kingsley Shacklebolt.

Here are some of my original characters who have been or will be making an appearance:

Madame Jovana Sandansky, a fortysomething Macedonian witch, spellsinger and shaman, and Professor of Spellsinging and Shamanism at Skopje Magical College in Macedonia.

Professor Marja Karppinen, a thirtysomething Finnish witch, spellsinger and shaman, who teaches these subjects at Ilmatar Witchcraft and Wizardry Academy in Finland. She is also a founding member of the Karelia Songspell Collective.

Professor Lule Gierran, a witch and spellsinger in her late 20's from Norwegian Sapmi (Samiland), who teaches spellsinging and Saami shamanism at Sapmi Magical Academy in Finnish Samiland.

Gabija the ferret: The animal companion of tonks_dhr; Tonks bought her in Ireland while on holiday, just before returning from her leave of absence to study spellsinging and shamanism in Eastern Europe and Scandinavia. Gabija was named after the daughter of some Lithuanian friends of mine; she (the ferret, not the girl) is now about a year old. "Gabija" is also the name of the pre-Christian Lithuanian hearth/fire goddess, sort of analogous to Hestia in classical mythology. Gabija the ferret has an elaborate "ferret condo" in Tonks' loft, and she has also been termed a "well-known denizen of the Aurors' Office (which is now in the Hogwarts Ministry Wing)."

Gobnait the magpie: Tonks' power animal as a shamanic practitioner. Gobnait is an Irish Gaelic name, and the name of a minor Irish saint. Gobnait supported Tonks during the shamanic journey when she first encountered unbalanced Dark energy in DHR, and when the young Auror/spellsinger was performing for Harry's and Severus' Bonding ceremony.

Other original characters who may or may not pop up from time to time include RPG Junior Aurors such as Nuala Brennan, Roisín Ní hAnluain, Jibreela Khan-Creevey (Anglo-Pakistani wife of Colin Creevey), Roshan Masih and others, as well as developing character Finola Cumbow, an American witch and Divination Mistress from west Tennessee. Good luck, all you British witches and wizards, in understanding Finola's brand of English.

Historical figures who may appear in the upcoming tale of Youngblood Circle include the Ghost of Grace O'Malley (Gráinne Ní Mhaille, a/k/a "Granuaile"), the famed Irish clan chieftain and pirate of Elizabethan times; and Biddy Early, a historical Irish wise woman from Feakle, Co. Clare, who lived and practiced the magical healing arts during the 19th century.

Hang on tight! The Night Ship is setting sail!!

*****

Special Cultural/Spiritual Disclaimer (reposted from tonks_dhr): Most of the references to songspells, magic and shamanism from Finland, Sapmi (Samiland), Macedonia and elsewhere in Eastern and Northern Europe are purely fictitious and imaginary (on the part of the creator of this journal). The Saami and many other European cultures do have traditions of shamanism, shamanic drumming and dancing, spiritually significant music and, in fact, spells and charms in song form (see the reference to the Macedonian chant to Demeter in a recent post to Hermione: this is factual, for example). Some of the songspell verses here, moreover, are inspired by actual translations of Balkan and Saami folksongs. However, most such references to European magical traditions here are completely fictitious; and the creator of this GJ in no way intends or wishes to offend or deliberately misrepresent the cultural and spiritual traditions of the diverse peoples of Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, or Sapmi.